THE Gollum Dishes

Oh peeps, I was surely blessed a few weeks ago when I won a fantabulous giveaway on Michael's blog!  I'm sure all of you that frequent Designs By Gollum know all about Michael's "Gollum" dishes, right?

I can now say I know exactly why she, and so many others, have fallen in love with these dishes.  They're bright white, very simple, but at the same time pack a punch. My pictures do NOT do these pieces justice, and there are actually quite a few more I never got around to photographing.

Sure, the following is probably considered a tea cup, but since I mostly drink coffee I'm calling these my new, dainty coffee cups! 

Do you see the beautiful swirly pattern?  I love it!

And there are dessert plates, but since I rarely partake of the sweet stuff, I put some sauteed zucchini on one.

 That same night I had pasta with my homemade sauce and a huge plop of ricotta.

 Doesn't my simple meal look gorgeous against that bright white?

This awesome set also came with S&P shakers, napkin rings, a gorgeous serving bowl which didn't make it... it was in pieces when I opened the box (Waaaaaaaaaaaaa)... and a small serving platter.

Michael, I don't know how to thank you enough.  This giveaway was just above and beyond in every way possible!  These have since become my everyday dishes and I will think of you often as I sit down to eat, or... blech... wash them after dinner!

Now everyone, go give Michael a visit because she's got some other incredible giveaways coming up shortly! Her blog is such complete eye candy you might even forget to enter yourself into the giveaways.  Which would be fine by me.  More chances for me to win another!






Pssst! If you love me, you might love my stupid sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

Foodie Friday: Italian Petit Fours (Rainbow cookies)

Today I am joining our most talented and lovely Michael, from Designs By Gollum, for her Foodie Friday meme.  Thanks for letting me play, Michael!

Just recently I made a family favorite that is requested by all year after year.  I originally got this recipe from my friend Lori, from my 1997 email loop, and have been making it every Christmas for quite some time.  Lori says they're easy to make.  I say they're not hard to make, but they're a royal pain in the ass.  Absolutely worth it though!

4 Eggs
1 Cup flour
1 Cup sugar
2 sticks butter, melted
1 tsp. almond extract
6 oz. semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 Tbl. vegetable oil
Apricot preserves
red and green food coloring
3 pans, size 10x7x2 (weird size pan, but it's important to get this size)


Preheat oven to 350.
Grease and flour your 3 pans.


Melt butter and let cool. Beat eggs with mixer and gradually add sugar. Add flour gradually, then melted butter and almond extract. Beat until batter is smooth.

Using a measuring cup (because you are going to think you don't have enough batter), measure out 1 cup of batter 3 times and put each into a separate bowl. Use 8 drops or so of green food coloring in one bowl, red in another, and leave the 3rd.

Pour each batter into a pan, smoothing it out to the sides and corners. It's going to be very thin.

Bake for 10 minutes, then cool on a rack for 10 minutes. The cakes will look shiny because of all the butter in the recipe.

Once cooled, turn red cake over onto waxed paper and cover with a THIN layer of apricot preserves. I always remove any lumps of apricot. You basically just want enough to put a moistening sheen on the cake.

Put white cake over red, apply apricot preserves.

Put green cake over white, and then using your hands, press the layers together well.

Melt your chocolate chips with the oil in the microwave. I stop and stir every 30 seconds. Using a spatula, smooth chocolate over the green layer of cake. Put in freezer for 5 or 10 minutes (flash freeze) until chocolate hardens. Take out, turn over, and smooth chocolate onto red side. Flash freeze, remove from freezer, and cut into squares.

You're done!

 And if you did it right, you'll have something that looks similar to this!

 

These are truly delicious.  If you try them, please let me know!!!  Merry Christmas all!

Pssst! If you love me, you might love my stupid sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!

Foodie Friday: Peanut Butter Cookies

Howdy blogger buddies, and welcome to Michael's Foodie Friday! Please make sure to visit her at Designs By Gollum for a great treat or two!



And speaking of treats, I was a bit dishonest in my title for this post. Because really, the "cookies" are dog treats! Hey, if I put that on the title no one would come over, would they? Can you blame me for my subterfuge? I didn't think so!

You all already know I'm a bit obsessed with my new pup, Strudel, so is it any wonder that I got a bug up my butt to make some healthy, no preservatives-added dog treats? So I took a trip to eBay and ordered some cookie cutters especially for Strudel Doo.

The sad part? I don't bake for my kids, but now I bake for my dog. Pathetic.

Our cast of characters for this recipe are:





Most of these are just approximations of the amounts, 'cause I'm crazy like that.

Tiney's All Natural Peanut Butter Puppy Treats (Say that 5 times fast!)

2 C Whole wheat flour
1 C Milk
1 C All natural chunky peanut butter
1 tsp. vanilla (Yes Picket,that is real vanilla, and straight from Mexico too!)
1/4 C honey
1 tsp. baking powder

Mix all ingredients together, and don't hesitate to get your hands in there and squish it between your fingers. That's the fun part!

Roll out on lightly floured surface to about 1/4" thickness, then use any cookie cutters you desire to make your treats. Place on pan and bake at 375 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Your dog will love ya for this!

And look at how cute they look!

Please note that because these treats are all natural, they need to be kept refrigerated. I put most of mine in the freezer, and the rest in the fridge in a container.

Strudel loves em!


I sing for da treats 'cause my mommy loves me!




Pssst! If you love me, you might love my sister more. Go visit her at Jill's Believe it or Not, and tell her I sent you!